Featured Peacemaker: Mario Mattei

Peacemaking is needed (and can be done) in all arenas of life, and today we highlight Mario Mattei, an artist working for peace through film, photography, and storytelling.

In our world filled with polarizing news media, stereotypes, and widespread conflict, Mario has founded Visual Peace Media and the International Guild of Visual Peacemakers in order to start a movement of artists reducing social distance and bringing people closer together through visual media.

Negative images of Muslims clutter the news. But it’s hard to refute these images through facts and argumentation alone. Why? Because logic and ideas appeal to the cognitive domain, whereas images appeal to the affective domain.

So we need both. We need to refute false views of Muslims, and we need to counter negative images with positive images, which is why Mario’s work is so important.

A passionate advocate for peacemaking and reconciliation and also a dynamic visionary, Mario is a leading voice in what we call “visual peacemaking.”

Mario currently works in Turkey, and in his latest film project, Dance the Past into the Future, he tells the story of a nation at a crossroads between its traditional past and a modern future.